Rolling mill



March 24, 1931. w. R. KNEELAND ROLLING MILL Filed March 17, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet l m M U 1 m 00 O T fi r O U 0 m den NQNR

March 24, 1931. R. KNEELAND ROLLING MILL Filed March 17, 19274'Sheets-Sheet 2 m Mb I March 24, 1931; w. R. KNEELAND ROLLING MILLFiled March 17, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Luau: R. IN; HQE

March 24, 1931. R EEEEEE ND 1,797,266

IIIIIIIIII 1L EIGJVT l I l I [I l l I I I Patented Mar. 24, 1931 UNITEDSTATES WALTER R. KNEELANI), OF PITTSBURGH, IPENN$YLVANIA ROLLING MILLApplication filed March 17, 1927. Serial No.176g082.

My invention relates to improvements in the structure of hot-mills thatis to say, mills in which light steel plates and steel sheets arerolled. It is not limited to mills for the rolling of steel, but itfinds practical application in that industry, and so applied I shallshow and describe it. The object of invention is the mechanical handlingof the mate rial in course of the rolling operation. I em- 1.0 ploy theapparatus of this application in a mill equipped for the control duringthe rolling operation of the temperature of the bodies of the rolls, andso employingit I am able to roll sheets in larger sizes and in great crquantities and of better uniformity, with saving of time, and in sodoing to eflect substantial economies. The matter of the control of thetemperature of the roll bodies to which I here allude is the subject ofa companion application for Letters Patent, filed by me March 17 1927,Serial No. 176,081.

In the accompanying drawings Figs..I and II are views in elevation andin plan of a hotmill in whichmy present invention is embodied. Fig. Iaillustrates in alternative form a detail of the assembly as seenin Fig.l. Fig. III is aview to larger scale, illustrating in fragmentary mannera certain screen which may advantageously be employed as an accessory tothe feed tables shown in Figs. I and II. Fig. IV is a fragmentary view,showing in side elevation the rolls and their driving apparatus. Fromthe showing of Fig. IV the feed tables are removed. Fig. V is a viewcorresponding to Fig. I and illustrating a mill of another type, havingapplied to it the feed table structure of the present invention.

Referring first to Figs. I-III, the mill shown is a three-high mill. Itis served by tables, one on each side. Each table is compound, andconsists of an outer swinging member 3 and an inner stationary member;and in this case of a three-high mill there is a stationary member oneach side for each rollpass, and these upper and lower stationarymembers are designated 5 and 6. The stationary members 5 above areupwardly inclined to the upper roll pass and are adapted to conveymaterial to and from the roll pass;

the stationary members 6 below are down wardly inclined to the lowerroll pass and they -too are adapted to carry material to and from theroll pass. The outer swinging members'3 may be brought to positions ofalignment alternately with the upper members 5 or the lower members 6.Fig. I shows them in full lines in alignment with members 5 and it showsin dotted lines the proximate portion of member 3 on the left inalignment 60 with its companion lower member 6.

Considering first the minute structure of table members 3, they will beseen to be made 1I1p)oii' lines of idly turning disks 30 (cf. Fig.

I in order to reduce to a minimum the extent of supporting contact withthe material under treatment and accordingly to reduce to a minimumescape of heat. The disks may be from an inch and one-eighth to an inchand one-quarter wide and may be spaced widely apart, as Fig. II shows.To the same end, the retention of heat, screens 31 of suitable material,asbestos composition, for example, may extend above and below the pathof advance of the material upon the table members 3 (cf. Fig. III) and,in order to keep the axles of the disks c001 and yet to bring thescreens as near as possible to the surfaces of the material, the screensmay be of the undulating so shape shown in Fig. III. The screens areslotted for the passage through them of the bodies of the disks. Thedisks of the successive lines stand in staggered succession, as alsoappears in Fig. II. Certain of the axles 35 32 of the disks 3O carrysprocket wheels 33 which turn idly upon them, and over these sprocketwheels positively driven continuous chains 34 are trained. These chainsit will be understood are equipped with means for engaging the materialunder treatment, and additional means are rovided gthough not shown) fordriving t e chains a ternately in one direction or the other, to conveyalong the table the material under treatment.

In Fig. I the table members 3 are shown to consist each of two sets ordecks of disks. The upper set of disks may or may not engage from abovethe material when borne by the lower set of disks. The table membersDisks are employed rather than rollers v 3 are in this case pivoted forswinging on transverse axes, to come to alignment alternately with oneor the other of the adjacent table members 5 and6. The table member 3 onthe left for example may swing clockwise from the full-line to thedottedline position indicated, or it ay swing counter-clockwise throughthe complementary arc, and come to the same relative position; but itwill be remarked that in the latter case the table member is reversedand turned end for end and the set of disks which had been the upperbecomes the lower. More minute details in range of swing will beexplained below.

Table members 5 and 6, like the table members 3, consist essentially ofidly turning material-sustaining disks, and they too are equipped withmaterial driving sprocket chains. Table member 5 on the left (on theintake side of the upper pass), at its outer end is preferably providedwith a device for removing bars from the bottom of a pile brought to theposition indicated at B, Fig.

. I, and for bringing them singly to position on table members 5 wherethey will be engaged by the sprocket chains 54 with which the tablemember 5 is equipped. Such a device is found in the positively drivenendless belts 55 equipped with dogs 56. Table member 6 on the left (onthe delivery side of the lower pass) at its outer end is in Fig. I shownto be provided with a positively driven roller 67 underlying the pathwayin which the material advances, and with cooperating and idly turningpressure and guide rollers or disks 68 and 69. Roller 67 is faced withsuitable porous material, such as asbestos fibre, and means areprovided, such as a tank 7 and a feed roller for filling the asbestosface of roller 67 with charcoal wash or equivalent adhesion preventingmaterial, to be applied to the nether surface of the passing sheet.

Alternative means of applying to the nether surface of an advancingsheet an adhesion preventing coating of carbon are shown in Fig. Ia. Inplace of theroll-67 of Fig. I burners 77 are arranged to project theirflames upon the sheet as it advances between the guiding disks 69, andthe flame so projected may, as will be recognized, be such as to affordthe desired smoking, that is to say the desired deposit of carbon. Thefuel may for instance be acetylene and conditions of combustion suitableto gain the end in view may be established.

The progress of material through the mill may be followed with Fig. I inView. As there illustrated the direction of rolling is from left toright through the upper pass and from right to left through the lower.

One, two, three or more bars, depending on size and gauge, are takenfrom the bar heating furnace, scaled, and deposited in a pile B incradle 8. Cradle 8 so loaded is brought to the position relative to thetable member 5 to the left, which is shown in Fig. I. The dogs 56 whichthe chains 55 carry, with each revolution kick -out the bottom bar ofthe pile and so in repeated revolutions deliver the bars in properlyspaced succession to the chains 5% which carry them to the upper rollpass.

Passing through the mill, the articles emerge on the right, and arereceived first by the stationary table member 5 on the right and then bythe lower deck of disks of swinging table member 3. When all thearticles which make up a single run have been received by table member 3on the right, a switch is shifted, the driving chains of table member 3on the right stop, and table member 3 swings counter-clockwise from theposition shown of alignment with table member 5 above to alignment withtable member 6 below. At this point the table-swinging operation isarrested, the table member 3 is locked, and the travel of the chains 34is renewed, but in reverse direction. The articles then travel fromtable member 3, across the stationary table member 6, and enter thelower roll pass.

Passing a second time through the mill,

the articles cross table member 6 on the left 9 and enter table member 3on the left whose lower deck of disks then is aligned with table member6. Table member 3, having received the articles which make up the singlerun, rises automatically in counter-clockwise turning to the full-lineposition shown in Fig. I, of alignment with upper table member 5 on theleft. Reversal in the direetion of travel of the chains 34 of tablemember 3 will cause the articles to advance to table member 5 again. Thecycle of operations then completed is repeated, up to the point wherethe articles emerge a second time from the lower roll pass. At thispoint the table member 3 on the left is swung further in clockwiseturning than before, until its upper deck of disks 30 comes to alignmentwith the disks of table member 6. This is the position of table 3 whichin Fig. I is indicated in dotted lines. The chains 34 of this upperseries of disks being then at rest, the articles after passing overroller 67 and after receiving from roller 67 on their under surfaces acharcoal wash, are automatically piled in the position indicated at C,Fig. I.

Vhen the table member 3 has thus received all of the run, it is swungcounter-clockwise until its upper deck comes to alignment with tablemember 5 on the left. The packs then are rolled in like manner as thesingle articles previously had been. The packs pass twice through themill. lVhen they emerge from the lower roll pass they are received uponthe lower deck of the table member 3 on the left. The table member 3swings to the full-line position of Fig. I, and then by the travel ofits chains 34 in proper direction the table member 3 delivers the rolledpacks to the doubler 80, shown to the left. The roughing and matchingpasses have now been completed in continuous run. The doubler forms nopart of my present invention, and I do not here describe it in detail.The doubled packs go to a heating furnace.

When all the bars in a heat have been worked to the form of doubledpacks, and when the fours and the finishing passes are to be rolled, theroller throws a switch, and a new set of operating circuits is broughtinto play. The packs are brought from the heating furnace and placed oneby one on the lower deck of table member 3 on the left. Each packadvances through the mill as before, until it is received on the lowerdeck of table member 3 on the right. This table then swings in oppositeand clockwise turning and through a complementary arc until the ends ofthe table member are reversed and the deck which had been the upper butwhich now is-the lower comes to alignment with table member 6 on theright. The material now rests on the deck last mentioned. The travel ofthe chains 34 with which the pack-supporting set of disks is equippedcarries the pack to the left, from table member 3 to table member 6.Thence it advances to and through the lower roll pass. Passing throughthe mill the pack is re-received onv sist of as many as twenty sheets.It is borne by table members 3 and 5 to the upper roll pass, it passesthrough and is received by table member 3 on the right. This tablemember swings clockwise again and delivers the pack to the table member6 which in turn carries it to the lower roll pass. Advancing againthrough the mill, the pack is received again on the lower deck of tablemember 3 on the left, and this Eble now 'also swings clockwise,inverting, shifting the support of the material to the deck of diskspreviously above but now brou ht to position beneath. Upon this set ofdis s the pack is advanced again to table member 5 and to the upper rollpass.

The rolling operation may with this pass be completed, and in that casethe pack passes out from the right hand end of table member 3 on theright. But if further rolling be required, the pack may be passed twicemore through the mill. If four passes suffice, the screw pressure on therolls may, after the fourth pass, be relieved, and the finished pack maypass through the upper roll pass for the last time without the exertionof any rolling pressure; or, by way of alternative, after the third passthe pressure may be so far relieved that the reduction still to beefiected may be accomplished in two steps, in the fourth and fifthpasses. In such manner the rolling pressure may be distributed so as tofinish in three, five, or seven passes, as may be preferred. v

In further general comment I would remark that throughout the finishingoperation the packs passing through the mill have been received betweenthe two decks of disks and between the screens 31; they have not comeinto contact with large bodies of metal, excepting only the rolls of themill. In consequence, they have been finished with less loss oftemperature than is usual. The pack has been reheated but once, and thefours and the finishing passes have been rolled in continuity, withoutany intervening heating.

The material may enter the mill as a single large slab, rather than as asuccession of bars. The slab wouldbe advanced to the mill resting fromabove on the upper series of disks 30, and the material would bereceived again from the mill on the lower series of disks. After thefourth pass the piece would be run out to the rear of the table andsheared, say to five pieces. These would be coated, run together, piled,and placed again on the upper series of disks 30 of the table member 3on the left and by the upper disks the so made pack would be advanced tothe will. It would be well to give to the pack four matching passes,with relatively light pressure. In consequence, the opening of the packwill be easier. A second slab might un der such conditions of operationbe entered at the upper pass while the first was being run off the rearend of table 3 at the left to be sheared. And the second slab wouldreceive its roughing passes while the first was being sheared. Thenwhile the second slab was run off to be sheared, the first piece ofmaterial, now made into a pack, would in the upper pass receive itsfirst matching pass. This the first piece of material would then receiveits matching passes while the second was being sheared and made into apack. While the mill in the lower pass was giving to the second pack itslast matching pass a third slab might be placed in position and enterthe mill for its first roughing pass as the second pack was run off therear of the table 3 at the left to be doubled.

The mill shown in Fig. I is a three-high mill. The middle roll may beunderstood to be carried in housings which are vertically immovable, andit may be understood that the top and bottom rolls, mounted incounterpoise, are simultaneously adjustable by an electrically drivenscrew-down, toward and from the middle roll. All three of therolls arepositively driven at equal surface speeds. As hot-rolling now ispracticed the top roll,

mounted to turn in response to the pull of the material, travels at aspeed about 94% of that of the bottom roll. This drag of the top rollcauses each sheet in the pack to move slightly, relatively to the sheetwhich contacts with it. In consequence fine slivers are produced, tornby the so moving sheets one from the other, and these slivers are to aslight extent embedded in the surface -of the companion sheet. Thetearing of the sheets apart is thus rendered more difficult, the sheetsare marred, and the waste is great. By driving both of the cooperatingpair of rolls at equal surface speeds slivcring is not created, there isno such interpenetration between sheets, intermediate opening of thepack is unnecessary, and the ultimate opening is accomplished withoutdifficulty. In consequence of positive drive of both of the pair ofcooperating rolls the pack may be carried through the mill in moreprecise course, and this makes for expedition, particularly in rollinglong packs.

Referring particularly to Fig. IV, all three of the rolls 1 are seen tobe positively driven from a three-high pinion stand 9. This stand ofpinions can he slid away from the mill, carrying with it the connectingspindles 90 and coupling boxes 91. The pinion stand unit includes threehousings 92, the pinions them selves, beariu g the numeral 9, thespindles 90, and the coupling boxes 91. This unit may by well-knownmeans be backed away from the mill, the mill may then be lifted out andreplaced, and the pinion stand may then be advanced again to makeengagement with the newly placed mill. A change of mill may thus be madewith great expedition and the newly placed mill may be set up, ready foroperation, with its rolls already heated for service.

The stationary table members 5 and 6 may conveniently be borne by themill housings 2 and with each replacement the new mill stand may beequipped with these stationary table members.

I have shown and described my inventionin application to a three-highmill with two passes. In Fig. V I indicate its applicability to a millof other type, and specifically to a two-high mill. In this case thetable on the delivery side of the mill, the table on the right as thedrawing shows it, is made up of two members,the stationary member 5 andthe swinging member 37. The swinging table member 37 on the right isequipped with a single deck of disks. The movement of this table memberis not a simple swing on fixed trunnions. but a swing along lines a andZ) from the full-line to the clotted-line position. And in thedotted-line position it will be observed that this table sustaining thematerial delivers it above the rolls and on the intake side of the mill,and to the table member on the left swung to alignment with it.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a rolling mill including a plurality of.rollpasses in a single roll stand, a swinging conveyor table including twodecks arranged adjacent to the roll stand and adapted to be swung from aposition of alignment with one roll pass to one or another of twopositions in which its two decks severally are in alignment with theother roll pass.

2. The combination of claim 1, the conveyor table being composed ofrotatable work-sustaining elements, .together with means for rotatingthe work-sustaining ele ments alternately 1n either direction.

3. In combination with a rolling mill, including a plurality of rollpasses arranged in a single roll stand, a conveyor table including twodecks of rotatable work-sustaining members adapted to be swung from aposition in which it stands in alignment with one roll pass, to eitherof two alternate positions in which its two decks severally are inalienment with the other roll pass, the said table being further adaptedto be swung through the complementary arc of a complete rotation,whereby material resting by gravity upon what had been the lower deck,but which by such swinging becomes the upper deck, is caused to rest bygravity upon the deck which had been the upper deck, but which by suchswinging has become the lower deck.

4. In combination with av rolling mill, a swinging conveyor tableincluding two worksustaining decks of idly turning disks arranged insuperposed relative positions, the table in its range of swingingadapted to be brought to positions in which the two decks alternatelyco-operate with the mill, and heat-insulating screens extendingtransversely of each set of disks.

5. In a rolling mill and in combination with a roll stand, a feed tableconsisting of a succession of material-carrying rollers and a heatinsulating screen extending adjacent the pathway of the material on therollers.

6. In a rolling mill and in combination with a roll stand, a feed tableconsisting of a succession of series of disks and a slotted heatinsulating screen extending adjacent the pathway of material upon suchdisks through the slots of which the disks extend.

7. In a rolling mill and in combination with a roll stand, a feed tableconsisting of a succession of series of disks mounted on axes, and aslotted and undulating heat insulating screen extending adjacent thepathway of material upon such disks, the axles of the disks beingarranged externally of the screen, and the disks extending through theslots in the screen.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

' WALTER R. KNEELAND.

